Putting Wednesday’s historic tornado outbreak into perspective

Last week forecasters predicted a major outbreak of tornadoes this week, and unfortunately they were all too correct.

At least 178 people (and probably many more) were killed Wednesday across the southeastern United States, including many dozens in the state of Alabama. The following video, from the Tuscaloosa News, shows some of the aftermath of a very large tornado that ripped through the city.

The major action during the outbreak began Wednesday afternoon as a series of systems in Mississippi and Arkansas swept northeastward across the United States. A series of storm reports from the outbreak can be seen at the Storm Prediction Center’s web site:

This April has been an incredible month for tornadoes. Even before yesterday’s even there had already been a preliminary count of 654 twisters (probably a slight over count), which easily smashes the all-time mark for April of 267 tornadoes in 1974.

This is the year when the infamous super outbreak occurred across the eastern United States, when there were 148 confirmed tornadoes on April 3 and April 4 that killed more than 300 people.

Alas Wednesday’s event seems likely to rival this swarm of tornadoes. Some observers reported that a long-track tornado began in Mississippi and remained on the ground for more than two hours as it tracked across central Alabama, including hitting Tuscaloosa.

What we can already say, however, is that Wednesday’s severe weather event is historic. We can also credit meteorologists for pegging the event several days in advance, and saving lives as a result. Never the less this was perhaps an unprecedented outbreak and the southeastern part of the country will need our help in the coming days and weeks.

A minor consolation is that the worst appears to be over, for now. Today’s convective forecast is much lower.